Additional Supplements
I’ve been researching additional supplements that most of us need to optimize our body metabolism and other functions. In Kubrik’s Dr. Strangelove, Capt. Mandrake would have been told by Gen. Ripper that they may affect “the purity of our precious bodily fluids.”
I wouldn’t go as far as calling it purity, but rather the proper function of our body, not just the “bodily fluids”—although if we think of the blood, lymphatic circulation, the secretions and excretions from many organs (liver, pancreas, kidneys), the “bodily fluids” can be a significant part of what we can improve.
I’ll start with magnesium, as apparently most of us (close to 70 percent), are deficient in this, more or less. The reasons could be certain medications, like water pills or stomach acid reducers —in the class known as proton pump inhibitors. Alcohol and coffee can also contribute as well, likely through their diuretic effects. For the same reason, probably elevated sugar does it too.
The regular blood test may show a result within normal range, but at the cellular level it’s not enough magnesium , according to Functional Medicine. Of course, my insurance company (and probably many others as well), will never cover fancy magnesium or other more specialized tests to determine the additional supplements needed.
Magnesium is necessary in many functions like muscle contractions—including heart muscle, skeletal muscles, and the smooth muscle of the intestines. It is also necessary in many metabolic reactions. According to Functional Medicine, it helps control headaches and even migraines.
I’m really curious to see if I’ll be able to decrease my migraines frequency or severity even more. I’m already very pleased with where I got eliminating the chemicals I noticed were affecting me. Some trigger foods I got rid of a long time ago (wines, aged cheese, processed and cured meats, even almonds), only helped somewhat. Nothing made such a pronounced impact as getting rid of the many chemical triggers from products that surround us on a daily basis.
Many foods contain magnesium, but some have lots of calories (nuts and seeds), others are not so well tolerated (legumes and beans), and others (healthy greens) many of us don’t eat enough for many reasons.
Therefore, if we’re depleted it’s hard to make it up from foods only, maybe this remains an option after a few months of supplements. Afterwards, we may need a thoughtful combinations of the right and proper amount of foods and maybe a somewhat lower dose of supplements. The good thing about the first of the additional supplements I’m discussing here—magnesium—is that if the kidney function is normal, the extra magnesium is spilled in the urine.
The commonly available ones in the drug stores are made of magnesium oxide, but this doesn’t get absorbed easily, therefore doesn’t reach the cells in need. To a certain extent, it may help constipation though. Of course, constipation has to be investigated for more serious causes first, but when nothing is found, magnesium may help, especially as laxatives can only seldom be taken.
If occasional constipation is an issue, magnesium citrate is a better option. A portion of it also gets absorbed and serves the good metabolic purposes. If constipation is not an issue at all, taking magnesium citrate can prompt evacuation in terrible timing. Some people cannot reach the bathroom fast enough depending on many circumstances.
This could be very unpleasant and a justified reason to stop taking it. In this situation, magnesium glycinate is a better option. I don’t know how magnesium tastes if I were to open the capsules. If bitter, I’ll transfer it from the so called “vegetable” capsules, into gelatin capsules.
The next question is: What brand? Many Functional Medicine famous practitioners have in their webstores Pure Encapsulations, so I presume they trust this. It’s available on multiple other sites, such as, Vitacost, Amazon, iHerb, Lucky Vitamin, and many more.
The next category of additional supplements I’m interested in, are collagen products. They usually come as hydrolysate (broken down into the amino acids components). This protein is very important in maintaining the health of the connective tissue. Skin, joints, tendons, bones and teeth—they all benefiting from collagen.
Connective tissues (there are multiple types), are found in the structures I just mentioned, but also in the bone marrow, blood vessels wall, gut, and most organs in our body. This is the type of tissue that fills the space in between organs and forms a network that holds everything in place, being probably the most extensive one in our body. A more complete name would be “connective and supportive” tissue.
We are getting deficient in the components needed to make collagen, because very few of us eat chicken skin, bone broth, organ meats (liver, kidney, brain). We all prefer lean (or not that lean) muscle meat. With collagen supplements we provide our body the necessary ingredients to help it make and repair the connective tissues throughout.
I tried to make bone broth home, but this is a big production. It takes a long time and the smell in the house (for days) is off-putting. Buying it already made is another option, but what I tried was not tasting that great, another reason collagen powder is on my supplements list.
As far as quality goes, I learned it’s best to derive from the organic farming of grass-fed cows, it has to be a special proportion of certain amino acids. The most beneficial are powders low in leucine and methionine and high in glycine. Apparently, this proportion helps with delaying aging.
The problem is that many manufacturers do not list a breakdown of the amino acids components, they just list the total amount of proteins. This applies to protein supplements other than collagen as well.
For what brand to use, I decided for Further Food Collagen Peptide. This fulfills the above requirements and doesn’t have to a high amount of protein per scoop (8grams), as opposed to others with double the amount. I’ve seen many times people taking large amounts of proteins for body building purposes, and had very elevated liver tests as a consequence.
Because I believe that, as much as feasible, we’re better off if most of our nutrients come from real foods, I’ll also try other brands of good quality bone broth, I doubt I’ll make it home again. Since I like liver though, and is not difficult to cook at all, I might restart to eat it more often. Beside collagen, I’ll get a good share of Vitamin A, which doesn’t get inactivated with cooking.
Now that you’ve got the additional supplements “homework” cut out for you, I think I’ll stop here. I would really want to get some feedback about other products and brands you came across.
